


Keith's Sacrifice

by Lunarium



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Near Death, Self-Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-14 23:38:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16050932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarium/pseuds/Lunarium
Summary: The only way out for the paladins was to divulge all of Sam Holt’s secrets. Keith complies, only to his own determent.





	Keith's Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Resilur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Resilur/gifts).



They let them go. 

Against all expectations—the paladins knew how the Galra worked—they let them go in the end. The Galra had interrogated their leader, tortured him down to the bone, and as he struggled for breath, they ordered the paladins to just go. 

Allura sucked in deep breaths to keep herself steady as they toiled all the way back, defeated and shamed. She didn’t have to glance to the side to see Pidge shaking from head to toe, to see Lance’s bloodshot eyes—bless him for always wearing his heart on his sleeve—or Hunk’s face a mix of grief and pain and anger as he carried Keith as though he were a lifeless infant in his arms. She didn’t have to ask if they felt how she felt. 

They were all guilty for what had happened to Keith. They were the reason for his suffering. 

Shiro met them by the lions’ new hanger. The moment he saw Keith, he cried out for him and relieved Hunk from his burden. His white pristine metal arm glistened with newly trickled blood. The others circled around Shiro as he set Keith down on the ground; he cradled Keith’s head on his lap as he tried to rouse him. 

“We should call the medics, now!” Shiro said, and was about to order Lance to do so when Hunk just hung his head. 

“I’m…afraid it’s too late,” he sniffled. “He wasn’t moving in my arms the whole time…” 

“No!” Shiro turned back to Keith. “Keith? _KEITH!_ ” 

The others watched, silent and too afraid to speak for fear of rousing Shiro’s anger even more. 

“What happened?” Shiro demanded, his voice hitched with the fast approaching tears. Keith was the sole member among them without any clothing. Bruises marked every inch of his body; gashes of crimson red marked his chest over where the red marks of his paladin suit should have been; a sick Galra had mocked his suit by etching the designs of the suit right on his naked skin. 

Even more disturbing were the clear signs of having been raped. The Galra soldiers had passed Keith around like a plaything, laughing about wanting to test if a half-Galra would endure the same as a full-blood. All despite their full compliance. Despite Keith telling them everything. Allura had tried to look away when she realized what they were going to do to him, but it didn’t make things any easier. She could still hear his screams rattle in her skull. 

“We were interrogated,” Pidge began. 

“They…took Keith for questioning,” Hunk added. “He’s our leader, so they wanted him, of course.” 

“He told them everything, Shiro,” Allura said. “Everything about the weapon Sam is building.” 

Shiro’s eyebrows shot up. 

“I’m sorry.” Allura cast down her gaze. Next to her, Lance broke down. 

“He wanted to protect all of us,” Lance managed between sobs. “He wanted to make sure we’d get out alive, but—” 

“—but that would have meant divulging all of Sam’s secrets,” Allura took over. “We agreed to it. I gave him the say, Shiro. It’s my fault. But they—the Galra, they—” 

“I know,” Shiro said in a small voice. “I know. I was also a prisoner before, wasn’t I?” 

At that, they all flinched.

Pidge turned to her lion and placed her hand on the paw, but she whisked her hand away a second later as if scalded. 

“What’s wrong, girl?” Pidge asked to Green. 

“What’s up?” Lance asked.

Pidge was at a loss for words for a few moments. “She’s not responding. It’s like…she rejected me!” 

Hunk turned to Yellow, and sure enough, the lion did not respond to him. 

“What’s going on here?” he asked. 

“I believe by allowing Keith to get hurt, we have failed our friend, and in turn we’ve broken our bonds with our lions,” Allura said sadly. 

Shiro frowned and peered down at Keith. 

“Allura…there is still a chance. What you did for me, can’t you do the same for him?” 

“I…I could try,” Allura said. “I do not know how far my powers from Oriande extend.” 

“Please…you must try.” 

She nodded and settled herself beside Shiro, her hands over Keith’s temples. The familiar light tingles, accompanied by a sort of humming, a vibration running, started from the tips of her fingers and worked inwards; they filled her hand as she worked. She could feel Keith in there—he was still alive, faint but there. But his spirit was trapped, buried deep in his consciousness. 

Her guilt hit her again, and she shuddered as the images and sounds came rushing back to her. But she drew in a deep breath and concentrated her work back into reaching out for Keith. 

_“Keith, we’re still here. We’re not going to leave you.”_

_“Keith, if you can hear me, take my hand. Your friends are all waiting for you here. I’m waiting for you here._

Lance, Hunk, and Pidge sat beside them, watching and hoping with bated breath. 

Allura drew in another breath. _“We’re all with you here, Keith. Hunk, Pidge, Lance, and Shiro.”_

Around them, all of the lions’ eyes suddenly sparked to life.


End file.
